Kitchen hood with slim profile

Abstract

A kitchen hood has a first housing and a second housing that slides into and out of the first housing to adjust a length of the kitchen hood. The first housing has a fan to suction air, an outlet, and an air quality sensor assembly to continuously detect air quality in a kitchen. The second housing has an inlet and suction grill through which air is suctioned, a steam cleaning assembly to automatically steam clean an interior of the kitchen hood, and a height sensing assembly to sense a height of cookware seated on a cooktop surface below the second housing. The kitchen hood may be lengthened or shortened based on the sensed height of the cookware, and a speed of the fan and the height of the kitchen hood may be automatically adjusted based on detections by the air quality sensor assembly.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A kitchen hood, comprising:
 a housing having a front, rear, top, and bottom, and left and right sides provided between the front, rear, top and bottom, the rear being configured to be installed on a wall; 
 a fan provided inside of an upper section of the housing to suction air; 
 a left inlet formed on the left side of the housing through which air is suctioned; 
 a right inlet formed on the right side of the housing through which air is suctioned; 
 a left grill covering the left inlet; 
 a right grill covering the right inlet; 
 an outlet formed in the top of the housing through which air is discharged; 
 a user interface formed on the front of the housing; 
 a container passage formed in a front-rear direction of a lower section of the housing; 
 a container configured to store liquid aid to be inserted into and removed from the container passage, a front-rear length of the container being greater than a left-right length of the container; 
 a heater provided at a rear of the container and configured to heat liquid supplied from the container to generate steam; 
 a steam distributor provided in the upper section of the housing and configured to release steam generated from the heater; and 
 a condensate collector provided under the steam distributor and above the container, the condensate collector being configured to guide condensate created from the steam down to the container, 
 wherein a depth in the front-rear direction of the housing is longer than a width in the left-right direction. 
 
     
     
       2. The kitchen hood of  claim 1 , wherein the left inlet is partially formed at the bottom of the housing, the right inlet is partially formed at the bottom of the housing, and the left and right grills are bent at a bottom so as to cover the entire left and right inlets, respectively. 
     
     
       3. The kitchen hood of  claim 1 , further comprising a guide extending between the front and the rear of the housing and spaced apart from the left and right sides of the housing so as to form a left suction passage from the left inlet to the outlet and a right suction passage from the right inlet to the outlet. 
     
     
       4. The kitchen hood of  claim 3 , wherein the guide includes a left damper configured to open and close the left suction passage and a right damper configured to open and close the right suction passage. 
     
     
       5. The kitchen hood of  claim 4 , further comprising a first sensor to detect a position of an object in a left-right direction provided below the housing, wherein the left and right dampers are controlled based on the detected position of the object. 
     
     
       6. The kitchen hood of  claim 1 , wherein the housing is provided over a cooktop surface, and a width of the housing in a left-right direction is narrower than a width of the cooktop surface in the left-right direction. 
     
     
       7. The kitchen hood of  claim 6 , wherein the fan is automatically maintained in an on state for a prescribed period of time greater than thirty minutes after an operation of the cooktop surface is completed or stopped. 
     
     
       8. The kitchen hood of  claim 1 , further comprising a second sensor to detect at least one of a smoke level, odor level, oil level, or dust level, wherein the fan is controlled based on a detection by the second sensor. 
     
     
       9. The kitchen hood of  claim 1 , further comprising a light provided on the bottom of the housing and a third sensor to detect an object approaching the third sensor, wherein the light and the fan are controlled based on a detection by the third sensor. 
     
     
       10. The kitchen hood of  claim 1 , wherein;
 the housing includes a female housing, and a male housing provided at least partially inside of the female housing and configured to move relative to the female housing, 
 the female housing includes the fan, the outlet, and the user interface, and 
 the male housing includes the left inlet, right inlet, left suction grill, and right suction grill. 
 
     
     
       11. A kitchen hood, comprising:
 a housing having a front, rear, top, and bottom, and left and right sides provided between the front, rear, top and bottom, the rear being configured to be installed on a wall; 
 a fan provided inside of an upper section of the housing to suction air; 
 a left inlet formed on the left side of the housing through which air is suctioned; 
 a right inlet formed on the right side of the housing through which air is suctioned; 
 a left suction grill provided in the left inlet; 
 a right suction grill provided in the right inlet; 
 an outlet formed in a top of the housing through which suctioned air is discharged; 
 a left suction passage formed between the left inlet and the outlet; 
 a right suction passage formed between the right inlet and the outlet, wherein the left suction passage is configured to be selectively opened and closed and the right suction passage is configured to be selectively opened and closed, and an opening and closing of the left and right suction passages are controlled independently; 
 a guide provided inside of the housing and spaced apart from the right and left sides of the housing, the right suction passage being defined between a right side of the guide and the right side of the housing and the left suction passage being defined between a left side of the guide and the left side of the housing; 
 a left damper coupled to the guide and configured to change a degree of opening of the left suction passage; 
 a right damper coupled to the guide and configured to change a degree of opening of the right suction passage; 
 a left motor provided inside of the guide to control the left damper between an opened position and a closed position; and 
 a right motor provided inside of the guide to control the right damper between an opened position and a closed position. 
 
     
     
       12. The kitchen hood of  claim 11 , wherein a volume of suctioned air passing through the left and right passages is controlled based on a left-right position of an object below the housing. 
     
     
       13. The kitchen hood of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 a left gear provided inside the guide and configured to be rotated by the left motor; 
 a right gear provided inside the guide and configured to be rotated by the right motor; 
 a left rack having an arc shape with first and second ends, the first end of the left rack being coupled to the left damper and the second end of the left rack being provided inside of the guide, wherein the left rack is configured to engage with the left gear; and 
 a right rack having an arc shape with first and second ends, the first end of the right rack being coupled to the right damper and the second end of the right rack being provided inside of the guide, wherein the right rack is configured to engage with the right gear. 
 
     
     
       14. The kitchen hood of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 a left hinge coupled between the left damper and the guide, wherein the left damper is configured to rotate around the left hinge such that, when the left damper is completely opened, the left damper is parallel to the left side of the guide; and 
 a right hinge coupled between the right damper and the guide, wherein the right damper is configured to rotate around the right hinge such that, when the right damper is completely opened, the right damper is parallel to the right side of the guide. 
 
     
     
       15. The kitchen hood of  claim 11 , wherein an inner surface of the left side of the housing is formed with a left curved portion that is curved inward toward the guide and an inner surface of the right side of the housing is formed with a right curved portion that is curved inward toward the guide, the left damper is configured to contact the left curved portion to close the left suction passage, and the right damper is configured to contact the right curved portion to close the right suction passage. 
     
     
       16. The kitchen hood of  claim 15 , wherein the left curved portion is formed with a left recess in which a top of the left grill is inserted, and the right curved portion has a right recess in which a top of the right grill is inserted. 
     
     
       17. The kitchen hood of  claim 11 , wherein the guide includes a passage for condensate to flow therethrough. 
     
     
       18. The kitchen hood of  claim 11 , further comprising a sensor configured to sense a position of an object provided below the housing, wherein, when the sensor senses that the object is closer to the left inlet than to the right inlet, the left suction passage is opened and the right suction passage is closed, and when the sensor senses that the object is closer to the right inlet than to the left inlet, the left suction passage is closed and the right suction passage is opened. 
     
     
       19. A kitchen hood, comprising:
 a housing configured to be installed on a wall, the housing having a top section and a bottom section, wherein a length of the housing changes based on movement of the bottom section into the top section; 
 a fan coupled to the top section of the housing; 
 a first inlet formed at the bottom section of the housing; 
 a first grill to cover the first inlet; 
 an outlet formed in the top section of the housing through which air is discharged; and 
 a first suction passage formed from the first inlet to the outlet, wherein, when the length of the housing is increased, a length of the first suction passage is increased, and when the length of the housing is decreased, a length of the first suction passage is decreased 
 a second inlet formed at the bottom section of the housing at a side opposite to a side where the first inlet is formed; 
 a second grill to cover the second inlet; 
 a second suction passage formed from the second inlet to the outlet, wherein, when the length of the housing is increased, a length of the second suction passage is increased, and when the length of the housing is decreased, a length of the second suction passage is decreased, 
 a first damper configured to change a degree of opening of the first suction passage; 
 a second damper configured to change a degree of opening of the second suction passage; 
 a first motor to control the first damper between an opened position and a closed position; and 
 a second motor to control the second damper between an opened position and a closed position. 
 
     
     
       20. The kitchen hood of  claim 19 , wherein the length of the first suction passage changes based on exposure of the first grill based on a position of the bottom section within the top section. 
     
     
       21. The kitchen hood of  claim 19 , further comprising a damper configured to change a degree of opening of the first suction passage. 
     
     
       22. The kitchen hood of  claim 19 , further comprising a sensor configured to sense a height of an object below the bottom section of the housing,
 wherein, when the height of the object is sensed to be less than or equal to a first predetermined height, the bottom section of the housing is moved to a first position so that the first suction passage has a first length, and when the height of the object is sensed to be greater than or equal to a second predetermined height, the bottom section of the housing is moved to a second position so that the first suction passage has a second length shorter than the first length. 
 
     
     
       23. The kitchen hood of  claim 19 , further comprising a condensate collector provided inside of the housing, the first suction passage being defined between a first side of the condensate collector and the housing, and the second suction passage being defined between a second side of the condensate collector and the housing,
 wherein the first damper and the second dampers are coupled to the condensate collector, and the first motor and the second motor are provided inside of the condensate collector. 
 
     
     
       24. The kitchen hood of  claim 23 , further comprising:
 a first gear provided inside the condensate collector and configured to be rotated by the first motor; 
 a second gear provided inside the condensate collector and configured to be rotated by the second motor; 
 a first rack having an arc shape with first and second ends, the first end of the first rack being coupled to the first damper and the second end of the first rack being provided inside of the condensate collector, wherein the first rack is configured to engage with the first gear; and 
 a second rack having an arc shape with first and second ends, the first end of the second rack being coupled to the second damper and the second end of the second rack being provided inside of the condensate collector, wherein the second rack is configured to engage with the second gear. 
 
     
     
       25. The kitchen hood of  claim 23 , further comprising:
 a first hinge coupled between the first damper and the condensate collector, wherein the first damper is configured to rotate around the first hinge such that, when the first damper is completely opened, the first damper is parallel to the first side of the condensate collector; and 
 a second hinge coupled between the second damper and the condensate collector, wherein the second damper is configured to rotate around the second hinge such that, when the second damper is completely opened, the second damper is parallel to the second side of the condensate collector.